Laminated elastic material for footwear, method of making same, and improved footwear made thereby



`My 29, w47. E. A. STUART 2,424,777

LAMINATED ELASTIC MATERIAL FOR FOOTWEAR, METHOD OF MAKING SAME, ANDIMPROVED FOOTWEAR MADE THEREBY Filed June 5, 1945 Patented July 29, 1 y'LAMINATEDELASTIC MATERIAL FOR FOOT- WEAR, METHOD OF MAKING SAME,ANDILIPROVED FOOTWEAR MADE `THEREBY Ethan Allan Stuart,- Wakefield,i Mass.,yassignor to Haley Cate Company, Inc., Everett,'Mass., `a corporation ofMassachusetts Application'June 5, 1945, Serial No. 597,644

My present invention is a novel and improved laminated materialespecially constructed and designed to provide desirable, attractive,and elastic upper material for footwear, and includes a novel method ofmanufacturing this material, as well as the improved elastic andautomatici fitting shoe structure made thereof.

' elasticity for fitting and hugging to the foot of the wearer, as wellas to facilitate putting on the same. Butunder present war conditions,re-

' strictions, and the absence of any such rubber elastic material, ithas been extremely difllcult to make satisfactory fitting as well asneat-appearing footwear of this type.

Various -attempts have been made to utilize rubber substitutes orleather substitutes for this purpose; and the present method has been toemploy material of twice the width and one-half the thickness of thefinished strip or strap intended to be utilized, and then fold over thesame z claims. (ci. 154-116) from each edge inwardly, with the edgesmeeting on the middle line of the finished strap, and stitched together.Thus, there was provided a folded edge along each side of the strap, aswell as giving proper thickness and strength to the material for use insuch footwear. These strips and straps were usually perforated,embossed, or otherwise ornamented. The folded layers required cementingtogether and the meeting edges in the middle of the strap being stitchedtogether produced an objectionable ridge in the middle of the strap orstrip as well as also preventing perforations or the like ornamentationalong this middle part.

My present invention eliminates the dimculties above briey outlined andprovides a better appearing, better fitting, and a more yieldingelastlce strap, strip, or upper material for making shoes, especiallysandals, open-toed, and heel-less styles, or so-called sling type ofshoe.

In carrying out my present invention, Iutili'ze a plurality of layershaving inherent yielding capacity, together with an intermediatebondingmaterial which will also yield and be resilient during the lifeof the shoe. Such intermediate 2 bonding layer or coating alsopreferably adds to the thickness and strength .of the upper material andis of a character not to dry out or harden like ordinary cements, glues,or thev like.

Furthermore, I provide a novel type of protecting and finishing edgebinding which must have capacity for yielding with the laminatedmaterial constituting the strips, straps, vamps, foxings, quarters, orother shoe parts, and presents an attractive and harmonious appearance,and gives resilience to the upper parts so made.

The outer layers may be of similar material and of a diderent color, butpreferably I utilize an outermost layer of suedette, preferablyrubberized suedette, ,or the like. These layers are bonded togetherwithl intermediate layers or coatings of permanentlyelastic bondingmaterial, which I nd is ideally performed by various adhesives andsynthetic plastics.

These bonding layers or coatings add to the resiliency as well as to thethickness and strength of the ventire laminated structure', givinglonger wearing capacity and preserving the resiliency of the shoe upperparts,- and thus provide a het ter automatic fitting or hugging of heforepart or parts and heel straps, to the foot the wearer.

My novel and laminated strips,v straps, and other shoe parts may be madeof any desired width and may, and preferablywould be, made in relativelylarge sheets and the strips or shoe parts cut or died therefrom toaccurate size. In either instance, the ,edges of the strips and strapsor shoe parts are then bound by an .elastic material, which may be .ofsuitable synthetic plastic with stitch-retaining and wear-resistingstrength. For this purpose various vinyl plasunited together and to aresilient rubberized tics are suitable, such as plasticizedvinylchloride co-polymer, or alkaline latex 50% dispersion of polymerized2-chloro butadiene in Water containing dispersing agent and stabilizers,or the like.

Such binding is folded over the edges of the shoe parts to be made,folding over the edge of the strip or strap from my laminatedmaterial-using a suitable binding width and stitching the same byzig-zag stitching to cause no restriction on 'the elasticity of suchbinding or material;

whereas a straight row of stitches would restrict the yielding 'qualityof both the binding and laminated layers.

Thus the novel combination of a bias-cut faille, backed by a bias-cutfabric, adhesively suedette, and with adhesive which is permanentlyelastic, made in shoe upper parts of any form, and bound with a yieldingsynthetic plastic simulating leather, constitutes an ideal material forfootwear.

While I prefer to utilize faille and suedette asv Referring to thedrawings illustrating preferred Y embodiments of my present invention:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in crosssection illustrating myimproved laminated layers of shoe upper material;

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale of a strip or strap cut from thelaminated material of Fig. 1 and with the ornamentating and bindingthere- Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional View on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a typical shoe construction ofstripping and straps, and

Fig. 5 is a view of a typical shoe upper or vamp other than strippingand Straps: which may be cut from the material of Fig. 1.

As lshown in Fig. l, wherein I have illustrated three layers of materialalthough, as above noted, any number of layers can be utilized dependingupon the thickness of the material used and the uses and strength ortotal thickness desired for any particular shoe upper material required,I preferably make such sheet material with one outer layer, herein shownas the bottom layer I of faille, backed and reinforced by an adjacentlayer of textile material 2.

Both these layers I and 21 are cut on the bias to give elasticity andare united by an elastic bonding layer 3; and a final outer or finishinglayer 4, preferably of rubberized suedette, is also united by a similarelastic adhesive coating or layer 3 between the suedette 4 and thereinforcing layer 2.

With the sheet material thus prepared, I may then cut therefrom shoeuppers of any desired form, length, size or contour. Thus, wide ornarrow strips or straps and of any suitable length or width, from whichto make shoe uppers, can be cut and also shoe parts such as vamps,quarters, or the like.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated a typical strip 5 cut from the sheetmaterial, shown in Fig. 1, of appropriate width to constitute upperstrapping material for a shoe. This strip 5 may be ornamented in anysuitable Way, as by a series of perforations 6-6 and will, preferably,have each edge bound as indicated at 1 1 with a protecting and finishingbinding, which I prefer to have to simulate a leather binding but whichwill be elastic. For this purpose I find that elastic plastic is anideal material and in order to still further maintain the elasticity orresiliency between the combined elastic layers of the strip 5 and theelastic binding 1, I attach the binding 1 by zigzag stitching l8 alongeach edge, substantially as shown in Fig. 2. The binding material 1 maybe also united along the edge of the shoe upper by elastic cement, ifdesired.

In Fig. 5 I have shown for illustrative purposes a shoe vamp l0 whichmay be dyed out by a clicking machine or other operations directly fromthe material ofFig. 1, and thereupon the edge portions would also bepreferably bound by i an elastic plastic protecting and finishingbinding, such as shown at 'l in Figs. 2 and 3.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a type of womens footwear, such as a sandalor the like, wherein the upper of the forepart comprises two pieces ofstripping I2 and i4 lasted and secured between a sole i5 and insole i6or in any other suitable manner, to which the usual wooden heel I1 andtop lift i8 is attached. A heel strap 20 is secured to the forepartstripping l2 in the usual manner, and because of the resiliency of theentire material the resultant shoe structure comprises a snugly fittingupper and heel strap.

My invention of shoe upper material and parts, comprising one or moretextile layers cut on the bias to afford stretch, and bound with anedgeprotectlng and finishing strip of resilient synthetic plasticmaterial, is believed to be a distinct novelty in this art, and I wishto claim same herein broadly.

When I utilize one or more layers in the laminated structure made ofsynthetic plastic material as above'noted, I also prefer to bond thesame in a similar manner with a resilient adhesive as well as to bindthe edges of the laminated layers with an edge-protecting and iinishingstrip of resilient synthetic plastic material to thus provide suitableyield, spring, and resiliency to the entire laminated structure, as wellas lto give a desirable finishing appearance.

This attractive and resilient feature of my lmproved strap or stripconstruction is particularly important where the article is intended foruse as a belt, wrist-watchstraps, Suspenders, or other similar uses inwearing apparel or clothing accessories.

Iclaim:

1. Shoe upper vamp material comprising a plul rality of layers bondedthroughout their length and width with permanently plastic adhesive, atleast one of said layers being of textile material cut on the bias topermit stretchability, and all oi.' said layers being bound on the edgesby resilient synthetic plastic material to afford resiliency to theentire plurality of vamp layers.

2. The improved process of making resilient shoe upper vamp materialfrom a plurality of layers of normally non-resilient material, whichconsists in uniting a plurality of layers with resilient bondingadhesives, at least one of said layers being of textile material cut onthe bias, thereupon cutting said plurality of layers into shoe upperparts of predetermined contour, and thereupon binding the edge of saidshoe upper parts with a strip of resilient synthetic plastic material.

ETHAN ALLAN STUART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS i Number Name Date 1,001,397 Hernandez Aug. 22,1911 1,864,254 Meyer s June 21, 1932 2,252,216 Sterzik Aug. 12, 19411,590,371 Haren June 29, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date176,910 Switzerland May 15, 1935

